The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA opinion regarding whether the Veteran suffered additional disabilities as a result of VA treatment and if so, whether it was caused by negligence or failure to exercise the standard of care.
The deciding factor: The January 2020 VA opinion did not provide the requested information about additional disabilities and their causes.
- Claimed conditions
- rectal perforation, colostomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20065884
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 20065884.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of a colostomy disability is denied as the earliest possible effective date, August 10, 2022, was granted due to the PACT Act. The July 2013 rating decision denying service connection was not appealed within one year and thus became final.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than September 2, 2020, for the award of service connection for colostomy, ileostomy, rectal vaginal fistula, and small bowel obstruction (SBO) surgery was denied as there was no new and material evidence received within one year of the issuance of the December 2013 decision.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection of rectal cancer, which required a colostomy after surgery, has been dismissed due to the appellant's death during the appeal process.
- Dismissed
The veteran's appeal for service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and rectal adenocarcinoma was dismissed due to a late filing of the Board Appeal request.
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